J
Johanna Reiss
Johanna Reiss wrote The Upstairs Room, a powerful memoir about her childhood hiding from the Nazis. It's a deeply personal account of survival and resilience during a dark time.
A hidden life
Synopsis
Johanna Reiss's American husband, Jim, encouraged her to document her two years, seven months, and one day spent hiding from Nazis in rural Usselo, Holland. In 1969, she returned with Jim and their children to research what would become her Newbery Honor-winning book, 'The Upstairs Room.' However, behind the story of her time hiding in an attic, a darker truth remained: Jim returned to America early and died by suicide at age thirty-seven, leaving no explanation.